The nine releases from Portlaoise tomorrow include James Hughes (33) and Conor O'Neill (28) who were part of an IRA squad from the Fermanagh/Donegal/Sligo area which was involved in attacks mainly on off-duty security force members in Fermanagh in the early 1990s.
The two were arrested after one of their associates, Joseph McManus (21), son of the then Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Sean McManus, was shot dead by an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment near Belleek, Co Fermanagh, on February 5th, 1992.
It appears the three were waiting to ambush William Glass, a Fermanagh County Council dog warden and part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment. He was lured to an isolated spot near the Border after receiving a false report about a stray dog. Mr Glass was shot seven times but was able to draw his legally-held handgun and opened fire, killing McManus. The two other IRA men, who were armed with an assault rifle and a handgun, fled.
Shortly after the incident O'Neill and Hughes were found by gardai hiding in a ditch. A rifle and revolver were recovered nearby.
In October 1992, they were both sentenced to 12 years for the attempted murder of Mr Glass. They were due for release on February 4th, 2001.
John Moyna (31) was arrested after a Garda surveillance operation at a farm in Scotstown, Co Monaghan, in May, 1993. A Mark 15 "barrack-buster" mortar, launching tube and propulsion unit were found in his car. In a follow-up search, gardai found detonating wire and a time-lag switch for firing mortars hidden in his farm.
The find was regarded as highly significant as it was the first time a storage location had been found for the IRA squad which was attacking RUC and British army bases along the Border. There were six of these attacks in 1993, resulting in the death of one soldier in Keady barracks that March. The IRA unit which was responsible for those mortar attacks was based in north Monaghan with a number of members known to live in Scotstown. This group is known to contain members who are said to oppose the IRA ceasefire; it carried out tests on mortars during the first IRA ceasefire from September 1994 to February 1996. However, since the latest ceasefire was called it is reported to have been very quiet.
Moyna, who was sentenced to seven years in December 1993, was due for release on March 4th, 1999.
Patrick Murphy (52) was sentenced to seven years in February 1995 for having one of the biggest arms caches found in this State. He was convicted of possessing parts of a SAM7 ground-to-air missile system, 25 assault rifles and 26,655 rounds of ammunition found in an underground bunker at his home in Athboy, Co Meath, in July, 1994.
Murphy, a milkman and father of three, was described as a "trusted" IRA member.
Andrew Gillespie (54) was sentenced to 12 years in February 1994 for possessing 1,000 lb of explosives at his farm near Ballybofey, Co Donegal, in August 1993. The explosives were ready to be used in a massive IRA landmine or lorry-bomb explosion.
About this time the IRA killed several security forces members along the Border with such large bombs. Gillespie was due for release in August 2001.
James Ginley (42) from Tully, Co Monaghan, absconded while on bail in 1982 while awaiting trial on a charge of possessing explosives at Smithboro, Co Monaghan. He fled to the US but returned in February 1996 and gave himself up to gardai. He received a five-year sentence and was due for release in December, 1999.